Because it was asked,
by OneofthefewKA
Summary: Katara travels to visit her love, reminiscing about the many times they had on the way. Kataang, tragedy.


**Alright, so this just came to me one night so I wrote it up. I'm afraid my writing style is too un-tragic for me to pull this one off, but I tried as best I could. R&R, Critique welcomed much!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the amazing series of Avatar: the Last Airbender.**

Because it was asked,

Darkness swirled around the Waterbender. She wasn't being attacked, she wasn't being watched, but she felt utterly terrified. It ebbed at her very soul as she looked around, but soon the darkness faded away into something else, a memory of Aang. He was helping a boy find his mother. She remembered the moment fondly.

"_Mr. Avatar sir?" the boy asked looking up at Aang, which meant that this child wasn't very tall. "Can you help me find my mom?" A slightly worried sound escaped his lips. Aang smiled._

"_Of course I can help you," he answered kindly. _

_They spent the rest of the day looking for the boy's mother, and when they finally did, the mother looked to Aang._

"_Why did you go through all this trouble?" The woman asked, not in surprise but in curiosity._

"_Because it was asked of me," Aang said with a smile. Katara couldn't help but love the airbender even more. He was always so kind and helpful._

The image of Aang smiling at both the kid and her faded as she woke up. Today was a big day.

Katara slid her feet off the bed and onto the marble floor. She cheerfully put on one of her blue dresses that Aang had commented on positively. Just the thought of the airbender sparked another memory in her mind.

_Aang looked down at the bowl in his hand. The local market was out of food, but they somehow managed to scrounge up a bowl of stew for the Avatar. Aang frowned at it. It probably tasted ok, but Katara knew he didn't plan on eating it._

_Instead, he walked over to where a group of kids were playing and stopped one whose cheeks were hollow with lack of nutrition. Aang handed him the bowl and smiled before heading back to the bench where he and Katara were sitting._

"_Why did you do that? I thought you were hungry." Katara said, puzzled but happy at the Avatar's actions._

"_Because it was asked of me," he said. Katara frowned. She clearly remembered him walking over to the kid by himself and offering the food. No one asked for anything._

_It was only weeks later that she figured out that it was his selflessness that asked it of him._

Katara smiled. She couldn't help but think of him every time someone said the word 'innocent'. Katara then lifted the betrothal necklace Aang had made for her and put it on her neck.

Sokka was down the hall and looked back at the cheerful waterbender. He sighed knowingly and grabbed Suki's shoulder, dragging her into the nearest room and closing the door behind him. Another memory popped into her head as the door closed.

_Katara looked into Aang's beautiful stormy grey eyes._

"_Katara, will you marry me?" Aang asked, his voice containing a tinge of nervousness that hinted that he thought she might actually say no._

_Katara couldn't speak; she was flattered. She wasn't flattered because it was the Avatar that asked her. Katara never thought of Aang as the Avatar. She was flattered that the kindest, bravest, most selfless person in the entire world had actually proposed to her. The love of her life had proposed to her. She couldn't stop the tears of joy that flooded from her eyes._

"_Of course I will," Katara whispered before jumping into Aang's unexpecting arms. Only Sokka was there to ask Aang the fateful question this time._

"_Why did you ask her?" Sokka asked, a stupid question, but not unexpected, especially when considering the person who asked it._

"_Because it was asked of me," Aang replied. This time, Katara understood. Love and an aching heart asked him this time._

Katara climbed up on Appa, who jumped off into the air without a 'yip yip'. He hadn't seen much flight lately. Usually he only had Katara for company at night. The two were off to the Southern Air Temple to go see Aang again.

_Azula couldn't get enough of world domination. She escaped after years of meticulous planning and Aang was forced to go search for her long after the war had finished and the peace talks had quieted. And it didn't take long before Aang found her. Katara remembered him masterfully entering the Avatar State._

Appa roared for a reason only Aang would know. Katara looked out at the horizon in barely held anxiety.

_Azula was pinned. She was trapped in an earthen prison, but she never played fair. Ozai loyalists came out from the trees, distracting Aang long enough for her to escape._

_Azula brought her arm up to the Avatar and released a deadly bolt of lightning, but Aang easily redirected it to the sky where it only served to provide a light show for any who might be watching._

The Southern Air Temple came into view and Katara nervously twisted the hair in her hand. After Appa landed, Katara jumped off, running to where she knew her airbender always waited.

_Azula smiled a knowing smile. She pointed to one of the firebenders who conjured lightning and shot it at the Avatar. He quickly began to redirect it. Azula smiled at Katara and pointed her fingers at the helpless waterbender. _

Katara picked up a basket that she had stored last time she visited and continued up the mountain to her love, her eyes growing watery.

_Azula shot her lightning at the surprised waterbender. Aang jumped in front of it, but couldn't redirect it. He let loose the lightning he already had stored at the rocks above Azula before earthbending her into a cage much more permanent than the previous one._

_The lightning hit Aang in the chest, and he fell to the ground in pain. Katara let the waterwhip she was holding fall to the ground as she rushed to the boy she loved._

Katara looked up at where Aang lay, tears falling from her face, the memory fierce in her mind.

"_Why, why did you do this Aang!" Katara yelled, tears falling on Aang's face. He looked up at her._

"_Because it was asked of- I. love. You. Katara," he whispered, coughing up blood before going limp. Aang could have meant anything, but Katara knew it as it was. His first and last selfish act, and an act that humbled and hurt her more than any other._

Katara looked down at the tombstone, the mark of the Air Nomads engraved upon it. Through her tears she managed to say what she always did. "I love you Aang, I always will."


End file.
